How to Pray for Your Child, pt.6

Paul commands us in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 to be thankful in all situations. If we are to be endlessly thankful, then shouldn’t this be a trait or characterstic we ingrain into the hearts and minds of our children as well? Therefore, pray that God would develop a thankful heart in your child.

The key to establishing thankfulness in your children is to teach them what to be thankful for. Psalm 107:1 says, “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!” Notice the source of thanksgiving is the character of God. We are thankful because God is good.

Despite any circumstance in life, God is always good, and his goodness toward us is revealed in his endless and steady love that lasts forever. This truth gives cause for constant thanksgiving. Your perspective of God’s character, his goodness and enduring love throughout the daily grind of life will be unveiled by your level of thankfulness toward him; and your children will notice, and imitate.

Also notice that God is not only the source of giving thanks, but he is also the one to whom we give thanks. We are to be thankful to him because he is the source of our cause for thanksgiving.

Practice remembering this. Pray to God in thanksgiving, always thanking him in your prayers for who he is and how he acts toward you in steadfast love. And pray that your children would develop a solid understanding of who God is and how he acts so that they would truly find him as reason to be thankful, and the one to whom they give thanks.